The British Covenant was a protest organised in 1914 against the

Third Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 90), also known as the Home Rule Act, and before enactment as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide home rule (self-gover ...

for Ireland. It largely mirrored the Ulster Covenant of 1912. With the failure of

Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of ...

and

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now ...

to reach a compromise on the delayed bill, Law accepted that a compromise was unlikely, and from January 1914 onwards returned to the position that the Unionists were "opposed utterly to Home Rule". The campaign was sufficient to bring the noted organiser

Lord Milner Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and early 1920s. From ...

back into politics to support the Unionists, and he immediately asked L. S. Amery to write a ''British Covenant'' saying that the signers would, if the Home Rule Bill passed,

"feel justified in taking or supporting any action that may be effective to prevent it being put into operation, and more particularly to prevent the armed forces of the Crown being used to deprive the people of Ulster of their rights as citizens of the United Kingdom".Adams (1999) p.146

The Covenant was announced at a massive rally in Hyde Park on 4 April 1914, with hundreds of thousands assembling to hear Milner, Long and Carson speak. The signature campaign was largely organised through the

Primrose League The Primrose League was an organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883. At a late point in its existence, its declared aims (published in the ''Primrose League Gazette'', vol. 83, no. 2, March/April ...

and Walter Long's Union Defence League. By the middle of the summer, two million signatures were obtained, together with £12,000 and a pledge to house 5-6,000 women and children. Signatures included Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Seymour,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

, and Sir William Ramsay FRS. The '' Daily Herald'' condemned the campaign

... the fact that Lords Selbourne and Curzon, to say nothing of Lord Milner, are all members of that treasonous and seditious conspiracy known as the 'British Covenant' in support of armed revolution in Ulster.''New York Tribune'', June 07, 1914
/ref>

The British Covenant coincided with the

Larne Gun Running The Larne gun-running was a major gun smuggling operation organised in April 1914 in Ireland by Major Frederick H. Crawford and Captain Wilfrid Spender for the Ulster Unionist Council to equip the Ulster Volunteer Force. The operation involved t ...

. During the

Curragh Incident The Curragh incident of 20 March 1914, sometimes known as the Curragh mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The Curragh Camp was then the main base for the British Army in Ireland, which at the time still formed part of the U ...

, Engineer Lieutenant Ranken of HMS ''Firedrake'', as a signatory of the British Covenant, declined to be a party to propelling the ship.

References

{{Reflist Home rule in the United Kingdom Unionism in the United Kingdom